Category: Trusting God
Answer Your Own Prayer, Then Give God the Glory
King David was in trouble. For four years his own son, Absalom, had been secretly gathering a powerful following for himself among the men of Israel by turning their loyalties away from the true king and deceitfully undermining David’s authority. As the story is summarized in...
What Insufferable Itches Have to Do With the Advance of the Gospel
When hard times come, what do people hear from your lips? Those who saw Paul in Rome under house arrest awaiting trial (see the end of Acts) probably didn’t think he was doing so well. After all, he was in chains! I can imagine the guards...
Moses, Joshua, Jesus, and Rest
I’m sure you know the feeling of restlessness. There is a longing deep in our bones that desires rest. No nap can fix this lack of rest. Augustine, a prominent Christian from the third and fourth centuries, knew of this restlessness. He prayed, “You have made...
What to Do When Your Sin Brings Overwhelming Guilt
This man was in big trouble! Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! (Psalm 130:1-2) How did he get into such a predicament? Listen closely:...
Shelved or Serving in the Latter Years?
Can you do much for God and his kingdom when you get old? God thinks so. He has used many older people to accomplish valuable kingdom work, recorded colorfully in both the Bible and Christian history. Take Moses. He was 40 when he killed an Egyptian...
My Gains Eaten Away
In Earnest Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, the superstitious old man on his dilapidated skiff had no luck catching any big fish for a long time, but this day as he allowed the wind to carry him out much further than before, and after nearly...
Surrender Where You’re Planted
Early in the summer as I was leaving my Dad’s farm I noticed a grouping of small plants near the edge of the cornfield close by the house. In an area about the size of a tennis court, the plants were all about half the size...
Commanding the Ravens: God’s Unexpected Provision
If we’re honest, our view of God’s provision for us is pretty narrow. Following typical western assumptions, we think that if we work hard at a good job, or any job, we will see a good return and be provided for. That’s how God does it—through...
Is There Any Sin in Trusting God?
A well-loved Christian conference speaker once posed this question to me after his message: “Is there any sin in trusting God?” Strange question, isn’t it? The answer has to be, “No.” I know that. You know that. The man who posed the question knew it also....
What Cockroaches Taught Me About Trust
We found them everywhere. Cockroaches, that is. Cowering in kitchen cabinets, scurrying down the hall, climbing up bedroom walls, and searching through our freshly packed boxes. Gross—I don’t even like looking at a picture of one! My wife and I had just gathered up our belongings...
